Tuesday, February 28, 2017

He became known in the early 1990s as the thoughtful
"Tatort" Commissioner Flemming.Now Martin Lüttge has died at the age of 73 years.

Spiegel

2/27/2017

He assumed a heavy inheritance.When Martin Lüttge appeared in 1992 as Commissioner
Bernd Flemming, he was supposed to fill the gap, which had been torn by the
departure of Götz George in the role of Horst Schimanski.The WDR was now seeking a successor to the
Ruhr area.

Lüttge did not even try to emulate the sympathetic rascal
George: Instead of finding himself in the proletarian primal mud of Duisburg,
his Flemming in bourgeois Düsseldorf, instead of seeking relaxation at
one-night stands, he retired after his work on his farm far from of the city.

Lüttge's television director Flemming was more of a
thoughtful type.And when he did not
think about it, he would sweat on his farm in the sauna.Instead of using his biceps, he developed his
brain.

Great performance as a fist

The actor was born in Hamburg and had a considerable
physical presence.At the end of the
fifties he went to England, where he worked in the acting industry, playing in theaters.Back in Germany he attended the Neue Münchner
Schauspielschule.

As a theatrical actor, Lüttge always filled the stage,
for instance as Faust in the production of Claus Peymann at the Staatstheater
Stuttgart 1977. Previously he was active at the Munich Kammerspielen and at the
Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. In 1978 the farmers and colleagues established a
theater on a farm in Mehring near Burghausen, which became known as Theaterhof
Priessenthal.

Lüttge was featured in major television productions such
as "Der Lord von Barmbeck" (1973), "Die Wannseekonferenz"
(1984) or "In the Shadow of Power" (2003).He played his role as a "Tatort"
commissioner Flemming only a relatively limited time, overall he appeared in 15
assignments.

Nevertheless, his Düsseldorfer Fernsehenhrevier also has
a certain significance for the current "Tatort" Germany: As Klaus
Flemming-Sidekick, Klaus J. Behrend played first roles in the role of Max
Ballauf , the investigator who is still active in Cologne's "Tatort".Just the 20th anniversary of this TV-station
was celebrated .

Lüttge, however, was active his last years in another
German TV show: until 2013, he had a fixed role in the series "Forsthaus
Falkenau".As his agent reported,
Martin Lüttge passed away last Wednesday in Schleswig-Holstein.He was 73 years old.

Monday, February 27, 2017

Bill Paxton, who earned success through roles in movies
including “Apollo 13,” “Titanic,” “A Simple Plan,” “Weird Science,” “Twister”
and “True Lies,” as well as that of a polygamist Mormon businessman in the hit
HBO series “Big Love,” has died.

The actor, who was 61, died due to complications from
surgery, according to a statement from a representative of Paxton’s family.

“A loving husband and father, Bill began his career in
Hollywood working on films in the art department and went on to have an
illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and
filmmaker,” read the statement, in part. “Bill's passion for the arts was felt
by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable.”

That warmth earned Paxton a career that began in
B-movies, experimental film and music videos, moved through bit parts in big
pictures and, ultimately, leading roles. The epitome of a working actor, he
described to The Times his on-screen presence as that of “a very
straight-looking guy, very old-fashioned.”

"I consider myself an everyman, and there will
always be an underdog quality to my stuff," Paxton told Cosmopolitan
magazine in a 1995 interview.

Paxton often found a way to make these roles his own. One
memorable moment? As Pvt. Hudson in James Cameron’s film “Aliens,” Paxton’s
desperate, defeated whine after a spaceship crash became a catch-phrase: “Game
over, man! Game over!”

Born William Paxton in Fort Worth, Texas, the actor was
the son of a hardwood salesman and, he told “Fresh Air” host Terry Gross in a
2009 interview, expected that he’d follow the same path. But after taking
theater classes in high school, Paxton made a decision to become an actor.

He relocated to Los Angeles when he was in his late
teens. One of his first gigs was at New World Pictures as a set designer for
famed B-movie producer and director Roger Corman on the Angie Dickenson movie
“Big Bad Mama.” A year later, he acted in “Crazy Mama,” a New World production
directed by a young Jonathan Demme.

The actor continued with set design gigs while making
inroads in front of the camera. Early appearances included a starring role in
“Fish Heads” (1980), a cult-classic novelty video for the music duo Barnes
& Barnes, which Paxton directed and that aired on “Saturday Night Live.”

As the jerky brother Chet in “Weird Science” (1985), a
young Paxton reveled in the character’s over-the-top antipathy. In one
memorable scene, blowing cigar smoke into his younger brother’s face, he said,
“How about a nice, greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray?”

Paxton played a blue-haired punk rocker in an opening
scene of “The Terminator,” a role that led to a friendship with director
Cameron and jobs in “Aliens,” “True Lies” and “Titanic.” Paxton’s acclaimed
turn in “Apollo 13,” where he was cast alongside Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon,
further confirmed the actor’s abilities.

"Every day you're taking a final exam as an actor,”
Paxton told the late film critic Roger Ebert in 1998, while discussing his work
in “A Simple Plan.”

As Hank in “A Simple Plan,” Paxton harnessed his
average-Joe demeanor in service of a career-defining role alongside Billy Bob
Thornton. After their two characters find millions of dollars in the woods,
Paxton’s Hank endures hardships that reveal the ways in which good men can do
bad things.

“I don’t play my characters with any judgment,” he told
Gross. “I don’t think it’s possible to play any character with judgment.”

The actor carried that philosophy into one of his most
notable performances, as Bill Henrickson in “Big Love.” As the polygamist
patriarch, Paxton played a husband juggling family, work and spirituality —
with three wives, a half-dozen children and a sect-wide family feud.

When “Big Love” concluded, Paxton told The Times’ Mary
McNamara that he faced a hurdle. “It was the only steady job I've ever had as
an adult,” he said. “But then nobody knew really what to do with me.”

As was always the case, though, Paxton found work. He
earned an Emmy nomination in 2012 for the miniseries “Hatfields and McCoys,”
and had a recurrent role in the TV series “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Paxton was starring as Det. Frank Rourke in the first
season of the CBS series “Training Day.” The 13 episodes finished shooting in
December, with nine still set to air.

CBS and Warner Bros. Television praised Paxton’s work in
a statement issued Sunday morning.

It read, in part: “Bill was, of course, a gifted and
popular actor with so many memorable roles on film and television. His
colleagues at CBS and Warner Bros. Television will also remember a guy who lit
up every room with infectious charm, energy and warmth, and as a great
storyteller who loved to share entertaining anecdotes and stories about his
work.”

Paxton is survived by his wife, Louise, and two children,
James and Lydia.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Bram, Babette "Babs" 92, of Phoenix, Arizona
passed away on February 7, 2017. Babette Bram went quietly to sleep in her home
in Phoenix, Arizona, 7 February, 2017 at the age of 92.
It was a peaceful finale for the dynamic, vivacious, fiercely intelligent force
of nature that everyone knew as Babs. Her friends and colleagues, whether in
the theatre or in real estate, all agreed that she was an unforgettable
character.

Babette Flora Blum Bram was born 18 January 1925 in New York City, daughter of Solomon Blum and
Frances Jacobs Blum. Babs grew up in New York City
and Forest Hills, Queens. Her life-long love
of music, theater and voice took her to the University of Michigan
to major in the Dramatic Arts, graduating with the Class of 1945. After
university, she soon relocated to Cleveland,
Ohio, where in 1948 Babs met the
love of her life, Robert H. Bram. They were married the following summer in
1949. Bob and Babs remained utterly devoted to each other for 60 years. Their
early years together were marked by a lot of moves necessitated by Bob's career
as a manufacturer's representative in the clothing industry. Along the way,
their sons Richard and Robert came along in 1952 and 1956. Their eight years in
Salt Lake City
in the 1960s instilled in Babs an abiding love of the great outdoors of the
Mountain West.

Every summer she would pack up the boys and head off on a journey to see the
wonders of nature in the National Parks, especially Yellowstone
and the Grand Tetons. While her favorite athletic activity was swimming, she
was proud of having learned to ski at the age of 37 so she could keep up with
her boys. While in Salt Lake City,
Babs began to develop her theatre career, performing on stages both amateur and
professional. She also became active in the American Association of University
Women chapter there and later in Phoenix.
After their final relocation to Phoenix
in 1969, her professional acting career blossomed. She became well known as a
commercial and character actress, performing on stage, television and
ultimately on the big screen.

Babs was a proud member of the Actors Equity, the Screen Actors Guild, and the
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Babs appeared in
made-for-TV movies as well as several episodes of the TV series "Little House
on the Prairie" and "Father Murphy." At the age of 68 she had
her first big screen role in the thriller "Red Rock West" with
Nicolas Cage and Dennis Hopper. Babs embarked upon a second career in
residential real estate in 1979, joining Russ Lyon Realty in 1984 where she
remained for over 20 years. There she earned the love, admiration, and respect
of her colleagues by her thorough knowledge of the ins and outs of the
business. She was a member of Russ Lyon Realty's President's Club,
Million-Dollar Roundtable, and the Scottsdale Association of Realtors. In their
later years Babs and Bob discovered cruising and traveled extensively from Alaska to Antarctica, the Caribbean to the Mediterranean. Their happiest moments were at sea,
exploring the world from the ships they sailed upon. Even after Bob's passing
in early 2009, she continued to take cruises as long as she was able.

Babs was proud of her family and would often say that she "managed to
raise two fine sons who married two fine women," Richard Bram,
photographer, of London, England and wife Monika; and Robert Bram, landman in
the oil and gas industry, of Littleton, Colorado and wife Laura.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Olive Joann Dunbar (known privately as Jo Keene) was a
stage, film and TV actress, born on March 30, 1925 to lawyer Harry C. Dunbar
and Geneva Teague Dunbar in Wellesley Hills, Mass. At an early age, Jo (who
identified herself with the heroine of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women)
decided she wanted to be an actress. (Not surprisingly, her favorite performer
was Katherine Hepburn, who memorably created the Alcott character on film).
After finishing high school, with lessons in elocution, Olive was accepted at
the Yale Drama School as an acting major, one of the youngest in the class of
'46. She left after completing two of the three-year program because she had
won a role in Philip Barry's Broadway play, The Joyous Season, making her debut
in the company of Ethel Barrymore. Several stage performances followed,
including the leading role in John van Druten's I Remember Mamma. Later, she
went on tour with Gertrude Lawrence in several plays written and directed by
Noel Coward. When a cross-country tour of an Archibald MacLeish play starring
Raymond Massey ended in Los Angeles, she decided to remain there and soon found
work in films (The First Monday in October, The Carey Treatment, The Lottery)
and in many television shows, including a series with Fred MacMurray and
another with Carroll O'Connor. She married William Keene, a New York radio
actor who had migrated to Hollywood and the couple lived and worked there until
his death. She returned to New York briefly and was persuaded by Richard
Burdick, the son of her roommate at Yale, to move to a retirement community
(Kendal at Ithaca) where she resumed her acting career at the Kitchen Theatre
and helped to form another dramatic group, Icarus, with which she appeared for
several seasons. Failing health forced her permanent retirement and she died on
February 8, 2017, a month before her 92d birthday, mourned by all her friends.

About Me

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1946 I have a BA degree in American History from Cal St. Northridge. I've been researching the American West and western films since the early 1980s and visiting filming sites in Spain and the U.S.A. Elected a member of the Spaghetti Western Hall of Fame 2010.